NATIONAL FOREST WORK 



Boundary Changes in National Forests 



The work of revising the boundaries of the 

 national forests continues : The President 

 has signed a proclamation eliminating 94,290 

 acres from the Las Animas National Forest 

 and 5,675 acres from the San Isabel National 

 Forest, Colorado. The proclamation also 

 provides that the two forests shall be con- 

 solidated and known as the San Isabel Na- 

 tional Forest. The entire area will be ad- 

 ministered by the supervisor stationed at 

 Westcliffe, and the supervisor's office at La 

 Veta will be discontinued, the Las Animas 

 division being administered by a ranger un- 

 der the direction of the Westcliffe office. 



Much of the land eliminated has already 

 passed into private owenrship. The rest is 

 for the most part open parks and scrub oak- 

 land chiefly valuable for grazing, though a 

 comparatively small portion is suitable for 

 agriculture. The small proportion of the 

 eliminated area that has a forest growth has 

 been cut over and in addition extensive 

 burns have occurred. These burns are re- 

 stocking with yellow pine, but it is very 

 scattering, and the percentage of public land 

 is so small that further administration as 

 a part of the national forest is considered 

 impracticable. 



The eliminations from the San Isabel forest 

 consist of numerous small areas scattered 

 along the exterior boundary. The area re- 

 leased from the Las Animas comprises a 

 strip of land for the most part from three to 

 six miles in width along the northeast, east, 

 and southeast boundaries. 



The eliminations are the outcome of de- 

 tailed field examinations made by the Forest 

 Service during the summer of 1909 under the 

 direction of the Secretary of Agriculture. 

 The unappropriated areas will be restored to 

 settlement and entry after having been ad 

 vertised in the local papers by the Secretary 

 of the Interior. 



The President has also signed a proclama 

 tion eliminating 203,635 acres from the Wall 

 owa National Forest, Oregon. The elimina 

 tion is the result of a careful examination 

 during the past summer, which disclosed the 

 fact that the areas now eliminated were either 

 open grass land with very little timber or 

 timbered areas so largely alienated that fur- 

 ther administration by the Forest Service 

 was considered impracticable. The lands re- 

 leased are not needed for watershed protec- 



430 



tion, and are not considered to be chiefly 

 valuable for national forest purposes. 



Some sections are transferred from the 

 Wallowa to the Wenaha Forest, the area 

 having been isolated from the Wallowa by 

 the large eliminations. The unappropriated 

 portions of the areas eliminated by this proc- 

 lamation will be restored to settlement and 

 entry after having been advertised in the 

 local papers by the Secretary of the Interior. 



A third presidential proclamation adds to 

 the Datil National Forest, in New Mexico, 

 183,091 acres, and eliminates 95,178 acres. 

 These changes are also the result of the re- 

 cent field examination. Three areas are 

 added to the eastern division of the forest, 

 and one to the western. The largest addition 

 to the eastern division brings within the 

 forest the Bear Mountains and surrounding 

 country, lying east of the old boundary. On 

 the. north, a strip containing eighteen sec- 

 tions of the southern watershed of Alamosita 

 Creek is added. The new boundary prac- 

 tically coincides with the foot of a line of 

 bluffs along the creek, and is therefore ad- 

 vantageous from an administrative stand- 

 point. The third addition to the eastern di- 

 vision is five sections of land at its south- 

 western corner, west of Crosby Mountain. 



The addition to the western division takes 

 in the Luera Mountains on the east. The 

 only large elimination is from the southern 

 end of the Magdalena division. Smaller elim- 

 inations and additions alter the boundaries 

 of all the divisions at various points. 



The additions contain good growths of 

 merchantable saw timber, totaling about 30,- 

 000,000 board feet, besides a large amount of 

 cordwood. The soil and topography make 

 forest protection necessary in many parts. It 

 appears that overgrazing of the lands now 

 added has seriously hampered the growth of 

 reproduction. The greater part of the Datil 

 National Forest is rough and mountainous, 

 but is particularly adapted to grazing. There 

 are many deep, narrow canyons, with large 

 mesas between them sloping off toward the 

 river courses. The water is important for 

 irrigation on the level country beyond the 

 forest limits. The eliminations consist almost 

 wholly of open grazing lands, where no 

 watershed protection is necessary. There is 

 also eliminated the little mining camp of 

 Fluorine, located on the south half of Sec- 

 tion 34. The lands eliminated from this 

 forest will also be promotly restored to set- 

 tlement and entry in the usual manner. 



